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July 11, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. | West 4th Avenue between Burrard and MacDonald

Info: khatsahlano.com

Now in its fifth year, the Khatsahlano Street Party bills itself as “Canada’s largest free music + arts festival.” The 10-block fair hosts local street performers and artisans, offers plenty of food options and features a family zone for the kids. New this year, the one-day festival also features licensed outdoor beer gardens. But the big draw is the music — eight stages and over 50 local acts, including Yukon Blonde, the Belle Game, Pointed Sticks, Enigmas, Louise Burns and the Victims, the Ballantynes, the Ford Pier Vengeance Trio and more. We chatted with Courtney Loove, singer/guitarist for the Courtneys, who play a 4:30 p.m. set on the TD Mainstage at Burrard and West 4th.

Q: In a description on YouTube, someone called you ”Canadian hipster garage shoegaze chicks.”

A: Oh my God, that’s from Australia. We did a little tour there in the winter. We saw that a couple of weeks ago and reposted it because we thought it was hilarious.

Q: You released your debut album way back in early 2013. Have you finished the followup?

A: We finished recording in May. It’s being mixed right now. We haven’t completely decided who’s going to put it out. We intend to have it out hopefully by the end of the year. It takes a super long time to get things (records) pressed. There’s a huge backlog.

Q: Who’s producing?

A: Just ourselves. We’re pretty DIY. We don’t have a manager or a producer. It’s taken us awhile to get this album done because we recorded it once but we weren’t happy with our performance in terms of energy. We’re really self-critical that way.

Q: But if a big-name producer like Howard Redekopp (No Sinner, New Pornographers, Tegan and Sara) or Steve Albini (Nirvana, The Pixies) offered to produce, you wouldn’t say “no.”

A: We might. We say “no” to a lot of offers. It’s scary stuff to give up artistic control. There’s obviously a huge benefit to it but you hear so many bad stories about industry, business-y people meddling with bands. We’re really on guard about that kind of thing. As long as we can do it ourselves and it’s not too much and we enjoy it, we’ll continue to do that.

Q: Among other items, Courtneys merchandise includes a car air freshener with the band’s name on it. Whose idea was that?

A: Me and Jen (Twynn Payne, drummer-vocalist) came up with that when Sidney (Koke, bassist) was away. I can’t remember why we thought of doing that, but they’re pretty popular. And they’re the perfect thing for bands. We always give them to touring bands we play with because everyone’s got a van that they’ve been living in for awhile, and it could be fresher.

Q: New Zealand record label Flying Nun, which became known for its roster of catchy, jangle-y pop acts in the ’80s and mid-’90s, gets mentioned in relation to the Courtneys quite a bit.

A: Our musical preferences are pretty wide and varied, but New Zealand bands from the ’80s are something we all agree on. There’s a video for a song by (’80s New Zealand band) Look Blue Go Purple called Cactus Cat. It’s one of the most inspiring videos and songs, we all love it so much. So we were really interested to go to New Zealand and meet those guys and play with bands there. We played with bands that are on Flying Nun now. I don’t know how to explain it, but we have a connection. We knew it before we went there, and then we felt it with these bands while we were there.

Q: You mentioned a song called Cactus Cat. Is that something you’ve covered or would cover? Or do you have a no-cover-song policy?

A: We’ve played a couple of covers. Lately we’ve brought back this U2 cover we used to do, we’ve played it the last couple of shows and we’ll probably play it this weekend. It’s I Will Follow. It’s kind of surprising how well it works for us. I think. It’s pretty hilarious to be the Edge.

Q: Have you checked out the Khatsahlano Festival before?

A: We played it two years ago. They asked us again and we said, “Heck yeah.” We love playing outside and during the day, and at a free event.

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Q&A: Courtney Loove of Vancouver band The Courtneys

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